The inventive concepts disclosed herein relate generally to the field of aircraft instrumentation systems. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concepts disclosed herein relate to a center of gravity envelope display for an aircraft.
A center of gravity of an aircraft affects the stability of the aircraft. Every aircraft is operationally limited by its center of gravity. For any particular aircraft to be controlled by a pilot and operated safely, the aircraft must operate such that its center of gravity falls within longitudinal and lateral center of gravity limits, otherwise referred to a center of gravity envelope. If at any time during flight the center of gravity of an aircraft shifts beyond its center of gravity envelope, controlling the aircraft may become more difficult. Or worse, the aircraft may not be able to be controlled to maintain a significant enough pitch to experience lift and stay airborne. Accordingly, when an aircraft is airborne, the center of gravity of the aircraft must remain within the center of gravity envelope in order for the aircraft to operate as intended.
Many aircraft are equipped with a display for displaying the center of gravity of the aircraft with respect to the center of gravity envelope so that aircraft crew members can monitor the center of gravity of the aircraft to ensure the center of gravity of the aircraft stays within the envelope. A center of gravity curve may be overlaid on the center of gravity display indicating a predicted center of gravity of the aircraft along a flight path.